Latest news with #CfA
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
New technique promises clearer, more frequent views of black holes
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A powerful new technique is poised to revolutionize how astronomers observe black holes, by producing sharp, multicolored images that could reveal their dynamic evolution in real time. By compensating for Earth's turbulent atmosphere, the technique — called frequency phase transfer (FPT) — enables scientists using the global Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) array to see finer details and fainter features of cosmic objects (like black holes) than ever before. This method also improves the frequency of observations by expanding the EHT's limited observation window, allowing scientists to potentially create time-lapse "movies" of black hole activity. An international team of researchers have put this new technique to the test using three of the 12 telescopes belonging to the EHT array, including the IRAM 30-meter telescope atop Pico Veleta in Spain and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and Submillimeter Array observatories in Hawai'i, according to a statement from the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). The challenge of observing the cosmos with ground-based telescopes begins with Earth's atmosphere, which distorts radio waves coming from space, according to Sara Issaoun, lead author of the new study and an astronomer with the CfA. These distortions are especially problematic at higher frequencies like the 230 gigahertz (GHz) band — also known as the millimeter band, which the EHT currently uses — where signals are rapidly scrambled by atmospheric turbulence and water vapor. As a result, data can be collected only over short time spans, limiting sensitivity and making it harder to detect faint signals. The FPT technique works by taking advantage of the fact that atmospheric variations affect different frequencies in similar ways, creating a measurable correlation. By observing at a lower frequency, specifically 86 GHz, which experiences slower atmospheric fluctuations, scientists can use that data to correct for the faster, more disruptive variations at 230 GHz. This allows for much longer averaging periods at the higher frequency, significantly boosting signal clarity and sensitivity. This leap in performance could enable the EHT to detect dimmer black holes and finer details than ever before, Issaoun told The EHT is a global network of radio telescopes that uses a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to digitally combine observations from around the world. Currently, the EHT is only operational for about 10 days each April, when weather conditions align across the widespread telescopes. With FPT, astronomers could greatly extend that window, opening up opportunities to observe black holes more regularly and flexibly, even under less-than-ideal weather conditions. That increased cadence is key to a major goal for the EHT: turning still images of black holes into movies that show how they change over time. Because most black holes evolve slowly, repeated observations are essential to track how matter swirls around them, how jets of material are launched, and how magnetic fields shift. By observing more frequently throughout the year, the EHT would be able to watch black holes change over time — potentially capturing phenomena in real time for the first time, Issaoun noted. To make this possible, telescopes in the EHT array are being upgraded to support simultaneous observations at multiple frequencies. This includes adding receivers for the 86 GHz band. However, not every telescope in the array needs to be outfitted with the new receiver for FPT to be effective. Even partial implementation can enhance the performance of the full network, since all telescopes work in tandem to build a complete picture of a cosmic target. While the required hardware upgrades are relatively minor, each telescope has unique technical constraints, posing challenges to implementation, according to Issaoun. RELATED STORIES — Event Horizon Telescope: A complete guide — Event Horizon Telescope spies jets erupting from nearby supermassive black hole — After snapping a photo of the Milky Way's monster black hole, scientists dream of videos In addition to boosting performance, this technique also adds a new layer of complexity to the images themselves. With multiple frequency bands, researchers can overlay data in different colors to reveal more detailed structures around a black hole. These multiband images will help disentangle features like swirling gas and magnetic fields, painting a more dynamic, multidimensional portrait of black hole environments. Ultimately, the FPT technique could enable the EHT to not only see black holes more clearly but also more often, unlocking a new era of black hole science. The team's initial findings were published on March 26 in The Astronomical Journal. The researchers continually work on developing the full potential of the EHT network and exploring even higher-frequency capabilities — such as 345 GHz — that can further complement multiband observations.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers just found the universe's ‘missing matter'
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission. There's been a lot of discussion over the years about what the universe is made up of. While some argue that dark matter is holding it together, while others argue dark matter doesn't exist, despite us possibly detecting dark matter a time or two. What is more intriguing, though, is that astronomers believe the universe is missing matter, and now they say they've found evidence of it. This matter was considered 'missing' because of how thinly it was spread among the various galaxies and halos of the universe. Because it is so diffuse, it's exceptionally hard to account for. But in a new study published in Nature Astronomy, astronomers from Caltech and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) say they have detected the matter. Today's Top Deals Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Best Ring Video Doorbell deals Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98 Additionally, they say that they've thoroughly accounted for all the universe's missing matter. According to a statement shared by Caltech, the researchers relied on fast radio bursts (FRBs) to help illuminate the matter that lies between those distant FRBs and us here on Earth. 'The FRBs shine through the fog of the intergalactic medium, and by precisely measuring how the light slows down, we can weigh that fog, even when it's too faint to see,' Liam Connor, an assistant professor at Harvard and lead author on the new study explained. In total, the team looked at 69 FRBs, ranging in distance from around 11.74 million to 9.1 billion light-years away from us. FRB 20230521B, which is located 9.1 billion light-years away, is now the most distant FRB ever recorded. Despite having detected more than a thousand FRBs, we've only managed to pinpoint around one hundred or so to their specific host galaxies. Other attempts to detect the missing matter had only hinted at its existence hiding among the holes and halos of the universe. However, by relying on the FRBs, the researchers were able to find evidence of the matter. These findings will help us better understand the universe and how galaxies grow. They could also help us unravel some of the greatest mysteries of the early universe, including how the universe expanded has expanded so quickly since the Big Bang. And researchers say this is just the beginning of the use of FRBs in cosmology. A future radio telescope from Caltech will help find and localize up to 10,000 FRBs per year, which should dramatically enhance our understanding of these distant radio bursts. More Top Deals Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2025: Get $2,000+ free See the
Economic Times
17-06-2025
- Science
- Economic Times
This is how astronomers have found universe's missing ordinary matter
Astronomers have used fast radio bursts (FRBs) to locate the universe's missing ordinary matter. This matter had not been detected before because it was too spread out. Using 69 FRBs, the team measured matter between galaxies. Their findings agree with predictions and may help map the universe's evolution. An artist's conception depicts warm, thin gas in a vast region between galaxies - called the intergalactic medium, in this handout illustration image obtained by REUTERS. Blue highlights denser regions of the cosmic web, transitioning to redder light for void areas. Courtesy of Jack Madden, IllustrisTNG, Ralf Konietzka, Liam Connor/CfA/Handout via REUTERS/Illustration Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Ordinary Matter Hidden in Space FRBs Reveal Matter in Intergalactic Medium Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Observations and Measurements Findings FAQs Scientists have used fast radio bursts FRBs ) to detect normal matter that was previously missing from the universe. This matter is not dark matter but baryonic matter made of years, scientists searched for ordinary matter that should exist in the universe. This matter is not dark matter, which does not interact with light. Instead, it is normal atomic matter, also known as baryonic matter. It was missing from observation because it was thinly spread between matter lies in two main places. Some of it floats in the space between galaxies. The rest surrounds galaxies in large cloud-like halos. Until now, it could not be detected directly with used fast radio bursts (FRBs) to locate this matter. FRBs are very short but powerful radio signals. They are produced far away in space. Some last only milliseconds but release as much energy as the sun does in these bursts travel through space, they pass through matter. That matter slows the signal. Scientists used this delay to measure how much material lies in the path. This method works even when the matter is too faint to see team used 69 FRBs with known distances from Earth. These signals came from as far as 9.1 billion light-years away. Most of these bursts were detected using a network of 110 radio telescopes at Caltech's Owens Valley Radio in Hawaii and California helped measure how far the FRBs had traveled. Other bursts were found by Australia's ASKAP telescope network, which is good at locating team found that 76% of ordinary matter is in the space between galaxies. About 15% is in halos around galaxies. The rest, about 9%, is inside galaxies. These results match what earlier computer models had discovery helps scientists understand how galaxies form and grow. Future tools like the DSA-2000 telescope may detect more FRBs and improve these are short bursts of radio waves that release large amounts of energy. They last milliseconds and come from distant parts of the found most missing matter in the intergalactic medium and galaxy halos using fast radio bursts as a detection tool.
Gizmodo
16-06-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Astronomers Just Solved the Mystery of the Universe's Missing Matter
Decades ago, astronomers estimated that 'ordinary' matter (basically everything that isn't dark matter or dark energy) makes up 5% of the universe. There was just one problem—they had no idea where most of it was. Astronomers from the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have tracked down the universe's 'missing' matter. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) indicate that over three-quarters of ordinary matter, officially called baryonic matter, exists in the form of hot, low-density gas between galaxies. With this data, they claim to have documented the first detailed measurements of ordinary matter's distribution throughout the universe. 'The decades-old 'missing baryon problem' was never about whether the matter existed,' CfA astronomer Liam Connor said in a CfA statement. 'It was always: Where is it? Now, thanks to FRBs, we know: three-quarters of it is floating between galaxies in the cosmic web.' Connor and his colleagues explain their discovery in a study published today in Nature Astronomy. Technically, baryonic matter is matter made of protons and neutrons. However, astronomers often use the term to refer to all matter made of atoms, which makes up everything that isn't dark matter or dark energy. 'A small fraction of baryons are in stars and the interstellar medium within galaxies,' the researchers wrote in the study. The interstellar medium is the space between star systems. Previous research suggested that much of the remaining baryonic matter was gas spread throughout the intergalactic medium—the space between galaxies. But because 'this diffuse ionized gas is notoriously difficult to measure,' the team added, scientists couldn't confirm how much of the gas existed or exactly where it was. In the new study, the researchers relied on FRBs—quick, bright radio signals from faraway galaxies. FRBs slow down when they travel through intergalactic gas. By measuring this decrease in speed, the team could infer how much gas the signal had traversed. They investigated 60 FRBs ranging from a galaxy 11.74 million light years away to one approximately 9.1 billion light years away. The latter emitted the most distant FRB known to science, designated FRB 20230521B. By studying FRBs, scientists confirmed that around 76% of all baryonic matter exists in the IGM, 15% in galaxy halos, and another small fraction in stars or cold galactic gas. Cosmological simulations had previously suggested this distribution, but the recent study provides direct evidence, shedding light on the movement of matter across the universe. 'Baryons are pulled into galaxies by gravity, but supermassive black holes and exploding stars can blow them back out—like a cosmic thermostat cooling things down if the temperature gets too high,' said Connor, who is the lead author of the study. 'Our results show this feedback must be efficient, blasting gas out of galaxies and into the IGM.' 'We're beginning to see the Universe's structure and composition in a whole new light, thanks to FRBs,' added Caltech astronomer and co-author Vikram Ravi. 'These brief flashes allow us to trace the otherwise invisible matter that fills the vast spaces between galaxies.' With increasingly powerful telescopes expected to detect thousands of FRBs, who knows what other mysteries might soon come to light?
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Lone Star State — and Trump — versus BlackRock
The Trump administration has waded into a politically charged Texas-led legal fight to dilute US financial giants' alleged influence over corporate America. Last week, the US Justice Department and the US Federal Trade Commission filed a joint "statement of interest" siding with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 10 other Republican-led states in an antitrust case against trillion-dollar asset managers BlackRock (BLK) and its rivals State Street (STT) and Vanguard. The charge: Using their substantial stock holdings, BlackRock and its rival financial firms coordinated a "left-wing ideological" attack on US coal companies, pressuring coal producers Arch Coal, Black Hills, and Peabody to cut coal production in the South Powder River Basin and thermal coal markets, the DOJ and FTC said in the court filing. The decreased output, they said, harmed US consumers by artificially inflating energy prices. "Carbon reduction is no more a defense to the conduct alleged here than it would be to price fixing among airlines that reduced the number of carbon-emitting flights," the DOJ and FTC said in the statement supporting the states' claims. The states allege that the financial firms agreed to reduce output through commitments to carbon-reduction organizations Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative and Climate Action 100+. They also say disclosures from the defendants and public statements show that they engaged directly with coal company executives in efforts to influence production levels, and they used their voting power when engagement fell short of meeting those goals. As large yet minority shareholders, the complaint claims, the defendants have more influence than their formal equity share. The actions extend beyond shareholder advocacy and passive investing by furthering their own "green energy" or net-zero goals, rather than the goals of the coal corporations, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 7 of the Clayton Act, the challengers claim. The agencies' effort to have the administration's perspective considered in the case, despite not being a party to the dispute, has drawn criticism from the defendants and others. On Wednesday, Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a nonpartisan nonprofit watchdog organization, accused the administration of targeting the money managers for political rather than law enforcement reasons. The group filed a Freedom of Information Act Request asking the agencies to disclose communications underlying their decision to weigh in on the case. CfA was co-founded in 2015 by Anne Weismann, former head counsel for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "This case isn't about antitrust law, but about conservative opposition to even recognizing the risks of climate change," CfA executive director Michelle Kuppersmith said. "Americans deserve to know who is influencing the FTC to use its antitrust authority to attack political opponents." Meanwhile, Derek Mountford, an antitrust partner at Gunster, said the lawsuit's rhetoric also signals political motivation. But, he added, it could ultimately answer an unsettled antitrust question over how competition law applies to the actions of asset managers with significant ownership interests in competing companies. Should asset managers and index fund providers, for example, be treated differently under the law than individuals and businesses that offer products and services and control multiple firms within a singular market? "If one individual owns a significant interest in three competing companies, alarm bells start going off in your head that there could be some anticompetitive conduct going on," Mountford said. Although the BlackRock scenario isn't as cut and dried, he said, concerns have been bubbling about the competitive role that institutional shareholders are allowed to play, compared to companies and suppliers that can more directly influence market competition. "This case is going to represent a much clearer answer to that question than I think we've gotten in any other case of its kind," Mountford said. BlackRock asked for a judge to dismiss the case and accused the administration of trying to "re-write" antitrust law under an "absurd" theory that the coal companies conspired with them to reduce production outputs. "Forcing asset managers to divest from coal companies will harm their ability to access capital and invest in their businesses and employees, likely leading to higher energy prices," the company said in a statement. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink made a series of disengagements from the company's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives as bipartisan concerns spread over the financial giant's power to sway US markets. Fink publicly stated in June 2023 that he would cease using the politically sensitive acronym "ESG" because it had been "weaponized" by both the ideological right and the left. In January, before President Trump took office, the financial giant cut ties with UN-backed Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), an environmental advocacy group that pledged net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The administration's legal filing came roughly six months after a GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee issued a report accusing the three money managers of using their financial clout to force US coal companies to "decarbonize" and reach net zero. According to the report, the money managers forced coal companies to disclose and reduce carbon emissions through negotiations, stockholder proxy resolutions, and the replacement of directors at "recalcitrant companies." Democrats have also criticized the financial firms' outsized influence over US markets, but for different reasons. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), a vocal critic of the megamanagers' influence, described the group's stock ownership in 95% of S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies an "oligarchy." Sanders, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also criticized BlackRock for declining to use its weight to intervene in a coal mining labor dispute. Gunster's Mountford said the federal government's decision to weigh in on a state AG-initiated case is unusual but becoming increasingly more prevalent. "It's not something that courts have had to wrestle with, where you have the DOJ weighing in on these types of cases," he said. "It's a pretty new phenomenon, and it's one that Trump sort of pioneered ... and continued during the Biden administration." "I think," he added, "it's here to stay." Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on X @alexiskweed.
